Residents/Residents Relatives

We process two categories of personal information about you and (where this applies) your dependants:

Standard personal information (for example, information we use to contact you, identify you or manage our relationship with you; or

Special categories of information (for example, past medical history, health information, information about your race, ethnic origin and religion that allows us to tailor your care or lifestyle, if you wish us to do so.

your age, your date of birth and national identifiers (such as your National Insurance number or NHS number);

information about your previous employment;

details of any contact we have had with you;

Special category information includes:

information about your physical or mental health, including genetic information or biometric information (we may get this information from application forms you have filled in, from referrals, notes and reports about your health and any treatment and care you have received, are currently undergoing or may need in the future, or it may be recorded in details of assessments we undertook or correspondence between us prior to admission;

information about your race, ethnic origin, religion, diet, likes and dislikes (we may get this information from you, your relatives, your medical or care-home preferences to allow us to provide care that is tailored to your needs);

What we use your personal information for:

We process and store your personal data for the purposes set out in this policy. We also have legal responsibilities as care providers to maintain accurate and lawful records. We process standard personal information to:

provide the services set out in your contract that have been agreed by you or your relatives;

tailor our services to meet your needs

interact, with your consent, with your nominated relatives about your wellbeing and needs

what is required by law such as council tax status, or professional records by professional bodies or assurance agencies.

We process special category information about you because:

It is necessary for recording a medical diagnosis, maintaining a record of your health care or treatment, results of medical investigations or appointments, to monitor your short and long-term goals.

It is necessary for a health care commissioner / continuing healthcare funding / social services contract;

It is necessary to establish, make or defend legal claims

It is necessary to protect you against dishonesty, malpractice or other serious improper behaviour (such as safeguarding concern or a complaint by a resident, the resident’s relatives or a regulator such as the Care Quality Commission.

It is in the public interest in-line with any laws that apply

We have your consent. This is clearly best practice and we will only ask to process your personal information after explaining what we are asking for, why we need it and what we will do with it. We cannot deliver health care without access to your standard and special category information and failing to allow consent, or withdrawing consent, may result in us no longer being able to deliver the services agreed in the contract.

We process your personal information for several legitimate interests, including managing all aspects of our relationship with you, to improve our services and to exercise our rights or handle claims. More detailed information about our legitimate interests is set out below.

Legitimate interest is one of the legal reasons why we may process your personal information. Considering your legitimate interests, rights and freedoms this information is used:

To manage our relationship with you

to provide and to keep a record of health-care services delivered on-site

to keep our records up to date as allowed by law;

for statistical research and analysis such as clinical audit so that we can monitor and improve services or develop new ones;

to monitor how well we are meeting our clinical and non-clinical performance expectations;

to exercise our rights, to defend ourselves from claims and to keep to laws and regulations that apply to us and the third parties we work with;

Automated and profiling data collection:

This is not employed at Care for Veterans.

Sharing your information:

Your information is shared internally within Care for Veterans. Relevant clinicians will have access to your special category data, whilst administrative and support staff will only have access to your standard personal information.

We do sometimes need to share your information with other people or organisations which may include:

Doctors, clinicians and other health-care professionals involved in the delivery of your care such as a visiting GP or Sussex NHS Trust

People or organisations with whom we must share your information by law or regulation, such as the Care Quality Commission or your care funders

The police or law-enforcement agencies when supported by a court order

Our insurance company in the event of a complaint or claim against Care for veterans

Government authorities and agencies as required by law such as the Health Protection Agency for the reporting of notifiable disease

Other Health Care Providers if you leave Care for Veterans and are admitted elsewhere, but this would require either your explicit consent or that of your nominated next of kin.

If we share your data in these circumstances all efforts will be made to obtain your explicit consent first if relevant. When the data is shared, we will make sure appropriate protection is in place to protect your personal information in line with GDPR.

Audit and Research:

We do, on occasions, collect some personal data to conduct clinical audits to improve our services. Occasionally, we may also take part in clinical research to develop best practice guidelines. Data is either anonymised, or your explicit consent is sought prior to any collection commencing. You will be asked whether you consent to take part even in the data that is anonymised and have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, upon which your data will be deleted / destroyed unless it forms part of your medical record.

How long do we keep your personal information?

We keep your personal information in line with set periods calculated using the following criteria.

Once you leave Care for Veterans, your standard and special category data, will be archived and retained for eight years in accordance with the Department of Health’s Record Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016. After eight years all records will be destroyed.

This may be extended if there is a pending or ongoing claim or complaint against Care for Veterans.

There is an occupational health relevance to your record such as working with asbestos.